陽炎

Noun

 * 1) dazzling sunlight, glare of sunlight

Etymology 1
&#42; → →

Originally a compound of. In non-final position, /e/ raises to /i/ in Japanese.

Noun

 * 1)  heat shimmer, heat haze
 * , text here:
 * 今更 雪零目八方 蜻火之 燎留春部常 成西物乎
 * 今さらに 雪降らめやも かぎろひの 燃ゆる春へと なりにしものを
 * いまさらに ゆきふらめやも かぎろひの もゆるはるへと なりにしものを
 * Ima sara ni / yuki furame ya mo / kagirohi no / moyuru haru he to / narinishi mono wo
 * And now already, when snow shall not fall, it has become the springtime with its smouldering heat haze
 * 1)  the glow of dawn
 * , text here:
 * 東 野炎 立所見而 反見為者 月西渡
 * 東の 野にかぎろひの 立つ見えて かへり見すれば 月かたぶきぬ
 * ひむがしの のにかぎろひの たつみえて かへりみすれば つきかたぶきぬ
 * Himugashi no / no ni kagirohi no / tatsu miete / kaherimi sureba / tsuki katabukinu
 * In the field of the east, the start of the dawn's glow can be seen, and looking back the other way, the moon has begun to set

Usage notes
In general use, this term has been replaced by the modern form kagerō below.

Used in poetry and formal writing as a, a kind of epithet, to precede certain terms.
 * 陽炎の: “heat-hazy spring” → introduces the idea of springtime, from the way that fields often shimmer in the heat of a sunny spring day.
 * 陽炎の: “heat-hazy heart-burning” → in reference to the heat of one's passion (note that this is not in the English term's sense of ).

Etymology 2
→

Traditionally described as a shift in pronunciation from kagiroi above. However, this might be the original form.

Noun

 * 1)  heat shimmer, heat haze

Usage notes
In general use, this term has been replaced by the modern form kagerō below.

Etymology 3
→ →

Shift in pronunciation from kageroi above, via vowel backing and raising of /fi/ > */fo/ > /fu/, remniscent of and Eastern Old Japanese. This is the most common reading.

Starting from the Heian period, used in poetry to allude to something indistinct, or something that might not be there; compare use of the term.

Associated with the season of spring.

Noun

 * 1) heat shimmer, heat haze
 * 2)  ephemerality

Idioms

 * : “heat haze, lightning, the moon [reflected] in water” → a metaphor for something unobtainable; compare

Usage notes
This kagerō form is the modern reading.

Used in writing as a, a kind of epithet, to precede certain terms.
 * 陽炎の: “heat-hazy Ono” → introduces places called Ono (literally “small field”), from the way that fields often shimmer in the heat of a sunny day.
 * 陽炎の: “heat-hazy stones” → in reference to a place with exposed stone, such as a stone wall, boulders, or a riverbed.

Etymology 4
→ →

From compound. Compare modern 🇨🇬.

Noun

 * 1) heat shimmer, heat haze

Usage notes
Less common than the kagerō reading above.